Diamond in the Rough

Random Pictures

2011-07-02T16:50:00.000-07:00

I took these a few weeks ago on my back porch. The sunset and the moon were just awesome.

Viva Las Vegas

2011-06-07T17:47:00.000-07:00

So this past weekend I had to go to Vegas for a jewelry show and I decided to take Liz along with me. We stayed at a five star hotel which was amazing and just hung out with my coworkers, but the best part was the surprise concert we went to. The jewelry show put on a concert at the Mandalay beach featuring BRUNO MARS. Yes, that's right. There we were standing in a swimming pool eight feet away from Bruno Mars. And the best part, drum roll please....its was free! Yep free Bruno Mars concert. Can't get any better than that.

P.S. Not sure who he is? Check out Grenade or Just the Way You Are on Youtube. Those are some of my favorite songs.

My Obsession

2011-04-23T12:19:00.000-07:00

So I have this obsession. It can sometimes be expensive and it takes up half of my closet, but I love it none-the-less. It's shoes. I love shoes. I love flats, heels, tennis shoes, sandals, you name it. I believe a bad day can get better with a new pair of shoes. It would be awesome if someday I had a closet dedicated to shoes (you know like in Italian Job). Shoes make and break an outfit. Shoes are AWESOME!

One sign that I am a total geek

2011-04-11T16:06:00.000-07:00

So, a couple of months ago I found this shirt. Needless to say, I totally had to buy it. From a far distance it looks like a regular old London Tube map but looks can be deceiving. In all reality it is a map of Middle Earth from Lord of the Rings. I know, totally cool huh! Let everyone know that I am officially a geek and proud of it!

I'm Back

2011-04-09T16:46:00.000-07:00

Okay,

I'm back. It been just a short time since my last post (he he) that I forgot my password to even log in to post a new entry. That is just sad. So here goes my second attempt at blogging. Stay tuned...

I love you, but...

2009-04-08T17:22:00.000-07:00

The title of this post may seem strange but prepare to be enlightened. Working at a jewelry company I get my fair share of interesting stories to tell. One has to do with my favorite tool at work, the Signature Engraver. What, may you ask is this? Well, one of my jobs as shop manager is to engrave each and every ring that is produced in our shop. Because of the metals that we use this engrave is fitted with a diamond tip the engraves on the inside of our rings. Most of the time its an extremely boring job, but there are some highlights. Occasionally a customer decides to have a special note engraved for their significant other. Most of the time it involves the words forever, I love you, a wedding date, and so on, but other times I hit what I like to call the "special notes that should only be repeated behind closed doors." This is not necessarily because they are inappropriate (which some are), but because they are so lame no one else should have to hear or see them. To those with these special notes I'm sorry to have to give you the cold hard facts, but did you stop to think about what you were indefinitely etching into your symbol of love? So without further ado I give you some of my personal favorites. **Disclaimer** Some are not direct quotes, but you get the picture.

Retarded for you

You are mountain I am snow

One room, one bed, no PJ's

Let our love be the shores between the sea

My buttface forever

Stan and Joe (most of these are for our jewelers in Cali. Imagine that)

Your third (don't know if that's good or bad)

One love to rule them all (Okay, Lord of the Rings is awesome but it just seems kind of silly)

Love my puppycat

An awesome night

2009-02-25T16:24:00.000-08:00

So for Christmas, being the best sister ever, I got Liz and I tickets to Celine Dion. On Sunday we ventured downtown to see her concert, and it was amazing. After more than ten years performing, she is still just as good as she was back then. We had a great time listening to her classics as well as some of her newer music. If given the chance I would definetly go again.

Blast From the Past

2009-02-16T17:26:00.000-08:00

Ok so I am the worlds worst blogger but I guess I can only get better from here. I sat for a long time trying to figure out what to blog about. Little did I know that the perfect subject had been sitting in my desk for about 4 years. Back when I was young and dumb I had this small obsession with a television show called Alias.(Small as in I watched it faithfully) Those who know about it know that it was great for about the first 2 seasons and then slowly went downhill. But who could pass up a girl that kicked major bootie and had a hot boyfriend? So my cousin Vanessa and I decided to write a poem about our love of this show. Although it is totally lame it still makes me laugh. So enjoy. (By the way, I made sure to get permission from Vanessa; although, this most likely won't save either of us from embarrasment)

Ode to ALIAS

Every Sunday there is a sight
We sit by the TV every night
Faithfully at 8
We sit and wait
For the time to see a spy
That caught us all by the eye

Alias oh, Alias
Thy suspense has hooked us deep
And why does this make our hearts beep?

First of all there’s Sydney A
Who could kick our butt any day
And shows up with the strangest hair
And does what no one else would dare

Next of all there’s hottie Vaughn
With him along you can’t go wrong
He always knows just what is right
Especially when the situations tight

Jack Bristow knows his stuff
But working with him can be very tough
Can he be trusted at all?
Or in the end will he take the fall?

Sloane is as bad as they come
And he’s also not that dumb
Likes Rambaldi, don’t know why
Even if he had to die

Sark out cutie from Great Brit
His real loyalties seem to flit
When he’s captured he’s always scared
But on the loose the danger is flared

Dixon is our help in danger
He’ll never be to us a stranger
His wife was killed by evil Sloane
And now he feels quite alone

Marshall is out gadget man
He talks and laughs as much as he can
He provides equipment for the spies
He has no life I realize

Weiss has come close to death
And his figure has lots of breadth
He is the best friend of Vaughn
And gives advice on and on

Last of all there is Lauren
Who really got kinda borin’
She married Vaughn, (what’s in his head)
Luckily, now she’s finally dead

We have to wait for January which is a blow
Because we will miss our favorite show
Until then we sill sit and wait

And not watch a show at eight

Spooky huh?

2008-10-09T17:32:00.000-07:00

So I love Halloween. In our house we have two major holidays where all the creativity flows. One is Christmas (tune on for that in December) and the other is Halloween. The following pictures are a small example of how we do things the "Right Way." Enjoy!

Shakespean, Scenes, and Songs

2008-09-17T16:37:00.000-07:00

OK, its only been forever since my last blog and I started to feel guilty about not posting when I noticed on my uncles blog that I was one of the last ones to update. Oh, bad me. Anyways, I have been meaning to post the entry ever since I got back but lo and behold a month and a half later I am finally getting to it. So, here goes.
In July my family took a trip down to southern Utah. We stopped of at Bryce Canyon and saw the amazing scenery. That place is truly breathtaking. Sadly, (or maybe not) I was not wearing the appropriate shoe attire so our hiking was short lived but what we did see was beautiful. Then we stopped at Cedar City. We saw The Fiddler on the Roof at the Shakespearean festival. They do an incredible job. I have to give a little hurrah for the Fiddler because he is in my ward and he was awesome. Then, on to St George we did go. We had the opportunity to see Les Miserables and Tuacan. It was awesome but different. I have seen it before and this was the first time it was outdoors which was a little strange because they have live animals. The main character Valjean was not that great but Javer was amazing. So even though southern Utah is not my first choice in vacation spots I had a great time. Here are some pictures.

I took this at Bryce. I like experimenting

Bryce again

The Fam
Me, Mom, Liz, and the tree

Why I love the Olympics

2008-08-13T17:50:00.000-07:00

I love the Olympics and I always have, so this year was no different from any other year. I could not wait to start watching and the many amazing atheletes compete and do some pretty amazing things. So, in honor of these Olympics I thought I would give top five reasons why the Olympics are awsome. So here goes.

5. It's something that I can watch that is free of vulgartiy and others senseless things

4. I love to see the world get together to celebrate "One World, One Dream" (Beijing's Motto)

3. I can actually cheer at the TV without people wondering what I am up to

2. I little friendly competition can't hurt, especially if we win

AND NUMBER ONE

Michael Phelps

Need I say more?

The End

2008-08-03T17:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I planned on reading Breaking Dawn over the course of a long period of time, you know maybe a week. Little did I know that this book would suck me in and I would be finishing it in the course of two short days. Don't worry to anyone that has not finished it, I won't spoil anything for you. All I can say is it didn't go as I had thought, but I was extremely satisfied. I even liked Bella which is saying something because I thought that she was the biggest loser in the other books but she really came through for me. I'm sad that it is the last of Twilight Saga but on the other hand I don't think that Stephanie Meyer could have ended it any other way. So I hope that those who are reading Breaking Dawn and those who will be reading it will have a good time. I know I did.

The Happiest Place on Earth

2008-07-22T16:48:00.000-07:00

So here I am sitting at home wondering what I should write about when it comes to me. I never got to brag about my trip to a small place called Disneyworld. Ok, just so everyone knows, I love Disneyworld. Having been four years since I lived and worked there, I was so ready to go back and I had the best four days ever. Mom, Liz, and I had so much fun. I love going somewhere where I can just be a kid again and no one cares. Whether young or old Disneyworld is a place where dreams come true. Rather than talking forever about it, I just thought I would share a slide show of my favorite things about Disneyworld.

This is an addition to the post. Slide show to come soon as soon as I figure out how to work the stupid thing. You would think it wouldn't be that hard.

Ok its all good. Scroll down and the pictures are on the right. Enjoy!

The Wonderful World of Books

2008-07-01T16:48:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I'm finally posting after a long hiatus which was not much of a hiatus since I was sick and then attending my grandfathers funeral but all is well I am back. The topic of today's post it all about books. This post could really go on forever because I love to read but I just want to highlight some of the books that I have read lately that I think others should read. So here goes. And for your reading pleasure I've decided to give a little summary about each book.

Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney. This is the first in an up to this point three book series. It is about a boy who it the seventh son of a seventh son. He father sends him to apprentice with the local spook who gets rid of witches, bogarts, and other scary creatures around the county. It is a young adult book but may be a little spooky for children. A plus, the illustrations are great.

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor. This is also the first in a series of books which up to this point are two. This is the REAL story of Alice in Wonderland. I loved this book which is a shocker because I really don't like Alice in Wonderland at all. Its got actions, suspense, romance, and even humor. Who couldn't love it.

The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory. For those who like historical books this is a must. I loved reading about Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII. I was hooked from the first page. Warning-this book does contain some sexual scenes and some dirty language.

And last but not least. At least for this post. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. Some of you may have heard about the teacher who was asked to give what is called a last lecture which means that you give a lecture about the last advice you would give students if you were about to die. Little did he know but this literally was Randy's last lecture as he was dying from cancer. I was touched by what he had to offer. This book really did change me and I would suggest it to anyone.

Well, there you have it. A very short list of the awesome books that I have read lately. If any of you read any of them let me know what you think. You could even give a few suggestions as to what I should read. I would love more great books!

I need a hero

2008-06-11T17:14:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I have a confession to make. I am secretly obsessed with Heroes. Well, maybe not secretly but I did not mean for it to happen. When the show first started I told myself that I would not watch it for fear of becoming attached. My sister kept raving about it and planning her activities to fit around the shows schedule. Then, about a month ago I borrowed season one from my aunt. From the first episode I was hooked. Hey, who can pass up and exciting show with hot guys? I stayed up every night watching the show and when I finished with season one I moved onto season two online. Luckily NBC has all of season two available to watch. As I'm doing this I realize, Amanda, you have become what you set out to avoid. Well, at least I am having a good time while I'm becoming an obsessive fan. But, because of the dumb writers strike heroes doesn't start again until September. But, to make up for lost time its a two hour season premiere, and who can pass up two hours of Peter Petrelli? If ever I was in need of a hero to rescue me from the evils of the bad guys, he would be it.

Hello Brave New World!

2008-06-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

Well, here goes. My first big step into becoming like everyone else. I have to say that this has been a long time coming and I hope that you all enjoy reading about me and my silly habits. What do you say in a first blog. I hope I make your life a little bit funnier and a bit more relaxing. I know this will be my outlet. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy the mahem. Tootles.